Corn Chowder with Shrimp

Who knew that Corn Chowder could be such a luxurious, indulgent surprise? It sounds simple enough, almost boring, with frozen corn, sweet yellow bell pepper, onions and potatoes cooked in a broth. Ahhh, but then there’s the bacon and butter, and honestly, what doesn’t taste better with a bit of fat? Cream adds another level of sweet deliciousness, a scant tablespoon of chipotle pepper pack a subtle punch, parsley and black pepper bring a tangy bite and the garlicky, smoky shrimp bits take it over the top. Corn Chowder is definitely luxurious… indulgent… surprising. Oh yes, altogether a damned good bowl of soup! 

Fresh ingredients would be a bonus, but December isn't corn or pepper season. Frozen fire-roasted corn and peppers from Trader Joe's work just fine, as do frozen cleaned and peeled raw shrimp. Still, I can't wait to try this recipe in Fall with fresh produce and just-caught prawns, though it's hard to imagine corn chowder being any tastier. 

On Day One I topped the soup with bacon, green onions and parsley. Hmmm, I might have been overly generous with the chipotle chili powder and a slow burn built up, bite by bite. Tasty, but a large dollop of sour cream added to my bowl helped to tame the heat. Note: RL was quite happy with the level of chili heat.

Many corn chowder recipes add fresh crab to the soup, but I thought crab would add another heavy, rich, sweet flavor to this already decadent dish. Shrimp, however, might bring a brighter, cleaner note making this more of a soup-for-company choice. So on Day Two, when H came to lunch, I covered several large shrimp with a dusting of garlic powder and smoky Spanish paprika, sauteed them quickly with a dab of butter and and slid them onto each bowl along with the other toppings. That's it; no more fiddling with this recipe. We love it as is.

Fully-Loaded Corn Chowder with Toppings

Serves 6-8

Soup

4 slices thick-sliced bacon

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small to medium poblano pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder (more or less, to taste)

½ teaspoon dried thyme

1 heaping tablespoon flour

3 to 4 cups low sodium chicken stock

1 bay leaf

1 large potato, peeled & diced

1 package frozen roasted corn kernels (16 oz or more)

1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half, or cream and milk combo)

Toppings

Fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Green onion, chopped
Sour cream
Raw Shrimp, peeled & cleaned (3 to 4 large shrimp per serving, or equivalent of other sizes)

1 tablespoon butter

dash of garlic powder

dash of smoky Spanish Paprika (pimenton)

Add the bacon to a heavy-bottomed pot and cook over medium heat until the bacon is crisp and browned. Remove with a slotted spoon; transfer to a paper towel to cool and reserve. Don’t nibble too much, you will use it later. 

There should be 3 to 4 tablespoons of bacon grease in the pan (add butter or oil as needed). Add the onions and peppers to the pan and sauté until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 more minute. Sprinkle on the chipotle chili powder, thyme and flour; heat and stir for another minute. Add the chicken stock and stir vigorously until thoroughly combined. Add the bay leaf and potato chunks and simmer until the potatoes are soft but not quite tender. Add the corn and simmer for 10 more minutes to blend the flavors. Stir in the cream and bring back to a low simmer, but don’t let the soup boil; it won’t be happy. Taste, then season with salt and lots of freshly ground pepper as needed. Use an immersion blender to whiz up a portion of the soup, thickening it slightly. OR put a scant ¼ into a blender, cover with the lid and place a towel over the lid, carefully puree and return to the pot. Let the soup continue to simmer over low heat, barely bubbling, while you prepare the shrimp. (Add a bit more stock or cream if you think the soup is too thick at this point.)

Peel and devein the shrimp. I used 4 large shrimp per person, but you can adjust quantity according to size (of shrimp, not people). Slice each shrimp into 3 or 4 pieces and sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and smoky paprika. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook quickly until they just turn color, barely a minute per side.

To serve

Ladle the soup into individual bowls and garnish with a dollop of sour cream, the reserved bacon, minced parsley and green onion and cooked shrimp.

OR, pour into a heated serving bowl or small tureen and sprinkle on the toppings. Ladle it up immediately.   

Note: check out the Recipe Index for other soups and chowders you might enjoy.

It Looks Like Clam Chowder

 A Potato Soup-Style Clam Chowder 

Meals can be, well... let's call them interesting, just before we move back aboard Rhapsody. What's left in the kitchen? The freezer is finally empty, the refrigerator looks bare and the pantry offers few staples to work with? Who wants to cook? Not me, however I still chose to eat at home; it would have been such a bother to tidy up just to go out to eat, and then come home to work on more messy projects. 


Inspiration struck as I gathered up odds and ends; a large baking potato, one big Spanish onion, a fat poblano pepper, a small jalapeno pepper, two cans of minced clams, half a bunch of fresh parsley, some sour cream and an assortment of spices and seasonings. RL deserved a comforting bowl of soup after doing battle for hours setting up the new boat computer. For myself I needed the comfort of an easy, can't-fail dish after losing a battle with bread dough.


I never, ever have failures with bread, that is not until today. A round of my sourdough rye collapsed in the center, creating a dense little boule with a rock solid crust and a moist middle. Was the starter tired? Did I add too much rye flour? or let it rise too long? or bake at too low an initial temperature? or... or... or... Note to selfs: it did make exceptional toasted rye croutons for the soup. (Without a soup soak those little cubes might chip a tooth or crack a filling!)


Back to the soup. I declared it a new version of clam chowder. RL claimed it was more like a potato soup with clams. Whatever, we both agreed it was delicious. The jalapeno and poblano added interest without being too assertive. We adjusted the heat in our separate bowls with more Cajun Sunshine - one of us used three times as much as the other! This will be a bowl of comfort on some chilly future afternoon, maybe anchored in a secluded cove or during a long passage across big water. It will certainly warm us up after a fishing trip or kayak exploration. Can you tell, my thoughts are already afloat and not ashore?! 


Here's the process rather than an exact recipe. Soup is so forgiving, it allows for freeform improvisation, careless measurements, and it still manages to taste good... unlike the precision suggested for baking.  This time I ended up with...

A Different Clam Chowder

1. Microwave 1 large, scrubbed baking potato for half of the usual cooking time. Let it cool and chop into 3/4 to 1-inch dice. Set aside.
2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a medium-sized pot and saute a diced onion and a seeded, diced poblano pepper until the onion begins to soften. 
3. Add some minced garlic and jalapeno; cook until briefly until the kitchen smells garlicky and wonderful. 
4. Stir in generous amounts of oregano, thyme, ground pepper and a bay leaf; cook for a minute or two until fragrant. 
5. Add a heaping tablespoon or two of flour and stir to blend; cook for another minute or two. Add 2 small cans (or 1 large can) of chopped clams along with their juices. Stir some more to incorporate all into a paste-like mixture. 
6. Add the chopped potato chunks to the pot along with enough chicken stock (or water) to cover. Stir some more. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are tender. 
7. Remove the bay leaf and stir in some chopped flat leaf parsley. Add some milk or cream if the soup is too thick. Taste and adjust the seasonings. At this point I added half a dozen shakes of Cajun Sunshine hot sauce. Green tabasco is another favorite for heat without hurt.
8. Ladle into bowls and top with a pat of butter or dollop of sour cream and a handful of toasted, garlicky croutons.

Notes: the minced clams were too tiny to provide any visual impact, but they did their part flavorwise. Bacon or salt pork is traditional in many clam chowders, but it was not missed in this recipe. I would add a bit of cream at the end, if there was any cream in the fridge... which there wasn't yesterday. 

Chorizo Clam Chowder

Kitchenette vs Galley

The original, sensible plan was to…

• book a motel close to the boatyard. Check.      
• book a motel with a kitchenette so we wouldn’t have to eat out every meal, every day. Check.
• eat healthy for the two or three weeks that the boat was up on the hard. Check - okay, like the boat, this one is still a work in progress. 

The motel kitchenette reminds me of the kitchen in my very first studio apartment, back in the day when I didn’t cook (or eat) much. This facility has more square footage, smaller appliances and fewer utensils. Note: no microwave and the fridge freezes everything in the produce drawer. It’s a good thing there is a mini bar fridge next to the bed to hold a few vegies. A good grocery is only half block away, through a field and across a parking lot, so it is manageable.

Oh my, how I take for granted the ease of cooking on board, surrounded by home-sized appliances and generous storage. Compared to our previous vessels, this galley is heaven. The warm glow of the cherry cabinets and the ever-changing views out the windows also contribute a lot to the enjoyment. 

It’s been a week of challenges, with some ingredients at the motel, and my spices, mixing bowls and favorite pans and knives on the boat. We can eat breakfast and lunch on board, but any dirty dishes go the motel each evening for washing up. After two weeks, it is becoming routine.

The biggest challenge has been cooking simple or one-pot meals in the evening. Now it really feels like I could be living the life in that studio apartment of old! 

A search through the boat cabinets and freezer last week yielded some frozen chorizo, a variety of spices and a few cans of clams. With some onions, potatoes, parsley and dairy from the grocery, the chowder almost made itself. The recipe was a riff off of Julia Child’s New England Chowder, my usual go-to recipe when I have fresh seafood. Julia might not recognize or claim this version, but it was popular in my kitchenette.

Chorizo and Clam Chowder 

very loosely based on New England Chowder, From Julia Child’s Kitchen. 

2 or 3 links of Spanish chorizo sausage

1 large onion, chopped

1 sweet pepper, chunked

1 heaping tablespoon flour

1/2 cup hot water

2 cups fish stock or chicken stock or clam juice (or a combination)

several boiling potatoes, chunked

1/4 teaspoon thyme or sage

1 bay leaf

Freshly ground pepper

Salt as needed (none, if clam juice is used)

2 large cans clams

1+ cups milk or half and half

Sour cream

Fresh croutons, cut large, toasted & tossed in butter, salt & pepper

Handful of roughly chopped fresh parsley

Saute the chorizo for several minutes over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed pan; brown very lightly and render its fat. Add the onions and peppers; stirring frequently, cook until tender but not browned. Pour the sausage and vegetables into a sieve set over a bowl to drain out the fat, then return them to the pan. Blend in the flour, adding a bit of the pan drippings if the mixture is stiff; cook slowly for 2 minutes, stirring constantly; remove from the heat. Vigorously blend in he how water to incorporate all of the flour; beat in the stock (or clam juice), blending thoroughly. Add the potatoes, herbs, pepper and salt(if using). Boil slowly until potatoes are just tender.

Add the clams, then pour in the milk - it tends to curdle if added sooner. Let it come to a simmer, then taste and correct seasonings. (I added some green tabasco at this point)

Ladle chowder into big soup plates, top each with several large croutons, a big blop of sour cream, and sprinkle the parsley over all.